Explain directive counselling

by Yuvi - April 15, 2021

Directive counselling

Characteristics of Direct counselling :

• A counselor-centered counselling.
• Here the Counsellor is important.
• Majority of the work and talking is done by the counsellor.
• Directive people believe counselling is a means of helping people how to learn to solve their own problems. So in directive counselling, emphasis is on –
  1. The problem
  2. What caused the problem
  3. How it can be solved

Main features of directive counselling

• Interview – During the interview, attention is focused on a particular problem and possibilities for its solution.
• The counsellor plays a more active role than the client.
• The client makes the decision but the counsellor tries to direct the thinking of the counselee by informing, explaining, interpreting and advising. Eg. Career counselling.

Steps in directive counselling

• Analysis – Collection of data needed for an adequate understanding of the student, from different variety of sources. Eg. Using tools, testing, etc.
• Synthesis – Organizing and summarizing and filtering data to find out the assets, liabilities, and adjustment and maladjustment of the student.
• Diagnosis – Formulating conclusions regarding the problems and causes.
• Prognosis – Prediction of future development of the student’s problem.
• Counselling and Treatment – The counsellor decides the treatment and the actual treatment starts and actual counselling starts.
• Follow-up – Helping and determining the effectiveness of the counselling provided to the student. If not suitable then change/modification in the treatment.

Merits of directive counselling

• It takes less time to solve the problem.
• It gives more significance to the intellectual rather than to the emotional aspect.
• Emphasis is on the problem and not on the counselee/individual.
• The counsellor can see the client more objectively than the client himself.
• It is less time-consuming.

Limitations of directive counselling

• It makes the counselee more dependent and less able to solve new problems of adjustment.
• The counsellor becomes dominant and influential.
• It is against democratic value.
• It does not guide the counselee to be efficient and express himself.